Video: Using fonts in Mac system applications

In Mac OS X applications like text, edit and pages, there's a standard font window where you can access your font collections, choose specific font families and styles, and apply typographic features. So, let's take a look at how you can work with fonts in Mac System Applications. Starting here in text edit, I have a tool bar with basic controls for formatting text right at the top of the window up here. And in the family menu, I have a list of recent fonts up here at the top, and a show fonts command that we'll look at in a minute.

When you're working with type, you need a plan for sourcing, organizing, validating, and managing fonts. In this course, Mike Rankin explains the different types of fonts and font licenses available on Mac and Windows and where you can acquire new fonts. He'll show designers how to use built-in OS tools as well as third-party software to manage font libraries. He'll provide tips on organizing fonts, and troubleshooting common font problems.

Using fonts in Mac system applications

In Mac OS X applications like text, editand pages, there's a standard font window whereyou can access your font collections, choose specificfont families and styles, and apply typographic features.So, let's take a look at how you can work with fonts in Mac System Applications.Starting here in text edit, I have a tool bar with basiccontrols for formatting text right at the top of the window up here.There's a menu where I can choose a fontfamily, and a style.And in the family menu, I have a list of recent fonts up hereat the top, and a show fonts command that we'll look at in a minute.The styles menu shows me things like regular, light, oblique, bold, and so on.I also have buttons to apply bold, italic,an underline, followed by some paragraph level formatting controls.Note that the bold and italicbuttons here are only available to use when thecurrent font family includes actual bold and italic fonts.So you can't use them to apply fake italic and fake bold.They work now because I have helvetic the bold and italic fonts on this machine.But, if I switch my text to American Typewriter, here in the Font Family menu.

See how the bold and italic get grayed out, I can't apply them.Because there's no bold and italic versions of this font.Now let's go back to the Font Family menu, and check out Show Fonts.This opens up the font window where I get more options for formatting text.So there are controls here for effectslike underline, strikethrough, text color, document background color.And on the left I can see my collectionsthat I created in font book. And I can apply fonts from them.So I can select the PDF collection and apply times to my text.And bold, and change the size if I want to.At the bottom there are controls to add new font collections, or delete one.And there's an action popup where I can do things like show previews of my fonts.And access special characters with a menu that appears right at my cursor.So if I put my cursor at the end of the text.Choose characters.I can use this pop-up to apply different things, like these icons.

Or something like a trademark symbol just by double clicking.Back in the pop-up menu, the Typography item givesme access to typographic features of the current font.See you'll see different things with this commanddepending on what font you're currently working with.If I change my font to one like Myriad Pro,I'll see a whole bunch of options here.I'll have things like ligatures, number spacing,vertical position, fractions and lots of others.Back in the menu, you can choose Edit Sizes to change the font sizes that appearin your menu over here, and choosing ManageFonts is a short cut to opening Font Book.There are also font related options in the format menu you'll see here in Text Edit.So, if I choose Format>Font, I can accessthings like kerning, ligatures, baseline shift, and more.If I switch over to pages, and show the formatting tools,and select some text, I have even more controls, including paragraph styles.Character styles,and advanced options, for things likecharacter spacing, baseline shift, ligatures, and more.Now there's one more thing I want to show you in this movie, and that'swhere you can find the fonts thatget installed with iWork applications, like Pages.So, back in the Finder, I'll use the Go menu.I'll choose Computer. McIntosh HD,Library, Application Support,Apple, Fonts, Eye Work. And there they are.In this movie we took a look at some of the controlsin Mac Applications like Text Edit, and Pages for working with fonts.With them you canapply fonts and styles, as wellas typographic features and special characters.

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